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Development Workflow for Wireless Reachy Mini

This guide covers efficient workflows for developing and testing code on the Wireless Reachy Mini.

Prerequisites​

  • SSH access to your robot (ssh [email protected], password: root)
  • SSHFS installed on your computer (sudo apt install sshfs on Ubuntu/Debian)
  • Your robot's IP address (find it in the dashboard, router, or run ifconfig after SSH)

Quick Cross-Platform Options​

Before diving into the full workflows, here are two simpler cross-platform approaches:

VS Code Remote SSH​

VS Code's Remote - SSH extension lets you edit files directly on the robot. Connect to [email protected], then open any folder. Changes are saved directly on the robot. This works on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Rsync​

Use rsync to sync your local source code to the robot's site-packages. This is fast and works (almost) everywhere:

rsync -avz /path/to/your_app/src/your_app/ \
    [email protected]:/venvs/apps_venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/your_app/

Run this after each edit to push changes. Add --delete to remove files that no longer exist locally.

For both options, see Step 3 of Approach A to run your code on the robot.

This is the preferred workflow. Your code lives on the robot, but you edit it from your computer using your favorite IDE or AI coding tools.

Step 1: Clone your repository on the robot​

ssh [email protected]
cd /home/pollen
git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USER/YOUR_APP.git

Step 2: Mount the robot's files to your local machine​

On your local computer, create a mount point and mount:

mkdir -p ~/wireless_dev
sshfs [email protected]:/home/pollen/YOUR_APP ~/wireless_dev \
    -o reconnect,ServerAliveInterval=15,ServerAliveCountMax=3

Now you can open ~/wireless_dev in your IDE and edit as if the files were local.

Step 3: Install and run your code on the robot​

SSH into the robot and install/run your app:

ssh [email protected]
cd /home/pollen/YOUR_APP

# Install in editable mode (changes apply immediately):
/venvs/apps_venv/bin/pip install -e .

# Then run your app:
/venvs/apps_venv/bin/python -m YOUR_MODULE.main

# Or run directly without installing:
/venvs/apps_venv/bin/python your_script.py

Step 4: To unmount when done​

fusermount -u ~/wireless_dev

Approach B: Override Installed App Sources​

If you already installed an app via the dashboard and want to modify its source code directly by mounting your local files onto the robot.

Step 1: Locate the installed app on the robot​

Apps are installed in:

/venvs/apps_venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/YOUR_APP_NAME/

Step 2: Mount your local source over the installed location​

Run this on the robot to mount your PC's source code over the installed package:

ssh [email protected]

# Mount your local src content onto site-packages
sshfs YOUR_USER@YOUR_PC_IP:/path/to/your_app/src/your_app \
    /venvs/apps_venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/YOUR_APP_NAME \
    -o reconnect,ServerAliveInterval=15,ServerAliveCountMax=3

Important: Mount only the content of your src/your_app/ directory, not the entire repository. The site-packages directory contains the package directly, not the repo structure.

Now edit files on your PC. Changes apply immediately when you restart the app.

Approach C: Mount Local Source and Run Directly​

Similar to Approach B, but without using pip install or the dashboard. You mount your local source onto the robot and run the app directly.

Step 1: Mount your local source onto the robot​

Run this on the robot:

ssh [email protected]
mkdir -p /home/pollen/my_app_mount

sshfs YOUR_USER@YOUR_PC_IP:/path/to/your_app /home/pollen/my_app_mount \
    -o reconnect,ServerAliveInterval=15,ServerAliveCountMax=3

Step 2: Run your app directly​

cd /home/pollen/my_app_mount
/venvs/apps_venv/bin/python main.py

This approach is fast for testing, but you won't have the app registered in the dashboard.

Installing a Specific Branch or Version​

To install a specific version system-wide:

ssh [email protected]
/venvs/apps_venv/bin/python -m pip install --force-reinstall \
    "git+https://github.com/pollen-robotics/MY_AWESOME_APP.git@MY_AWESOME_BRANCH"

Replace MY_AWESOME_BRANCH with a branch name (develop), tag, or commit hash.

Common Pitfalls​

Slow pip install over SSHFS​

If you mount files from your computer to the robot (inverse of Approach A), pip install operations will be extremely slow because pip reads many small files over the network.

Solution: Either:

  • Use Approach A (files live on robot, mount to your computer)
  • Or skip pip install and run manually with python -m your_module

Wrong mount point for site-packages​

A git repository has this structure:

your_app/
  src/
    your_app/
      __init__.py
      main.py

But site-packages contains:

your_app/
  __init__.py
  main.py

If you mount the whole repo over site-packages, Python will not find your code. Mount only the inner package directory.

Quick Reference​

TaskCommand
SSH to robotssh [email protected]
Stop daemonsudo systemctl stop reachy-mini-daemon
Start daemonsudo systemctl start reachy-mini-daemon
View daemon logsjournalctl -u reachy-mini-daemon -f
Check robot statusreachyminios_check
Mount robot files locallysshfs pollen@IP:/path ~/local_mount -o reconnect,ServerAliveInterval=15,ServerAliveCountMax=3
Unmountfusermount -u ~/local_mount

See Also​

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